MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE 2025

It's September 2025 and we have set off on a cruise from Southampton to Istanbul and back. The whole trip will take 31 days. We are aboard the Sky Princess which is the same ship as we sailed on to Canada last year. Today we arrived at our first port of call which is Vigo in the Spanish province of Galicia.

The name "Vigo" comes from the Roman "Vicus" which means "village" but today it is the largest city in Galicia and one of the main ports in the world for the marketing of fish for human consumption.

The weather when we arrived was quite misty with occasional drizzle. We walked into Vigo as soon as the ship arrived in port but perhaps we should have left it until after lunch as the sun came out during the afternoon.

We walked up to the Castle that overlooks Vigo in order to get good views over the bay. However, the higher we climbed the more we got into the clouds and drizzle so the views weren't particularly spectactular.

The photo below is of El Sireno or The Merman. It is a sculpture by the Galician artist Francisco Leiro and was erected in 1991 in the Porta do Sol in Vigo.

Docked next to our ship was the B. A. P. Union. This is a tall ship belonging to the Peruvian Navy. It functions as a training vessel and a cultural ambassador for Peru. The ship features classrooms, a museum showcasing Peru's culture, and serves as a floating symbol of the nation's maritime heritage. They allowed visitors on board free of charge and we therefore took the opportunity to have a look around.

In 1888 after the end of hostilities between the United States and Spain, a large number of Spanish soldiers remained in Cuba and needed to return home. Their health was in very poor condition.

Between 2nd September and 6th October 1898 a number of these repatriated soldiers arrived at the Vigo estuary. The people of Vigo were deeply moved and poured their care and attention over them, showing amazing solidarity. The lack of support from public institutions to these heroic soldiers caused uprisings and the governor, fearing more riots, decided to end landings in Vigo.

The people of Vigo provided the soliders who had arrived (over 7,00) with everything that the government failed to do - food, clothing and money. Due to this the government gave the accolade "Always Charitable" to the city of Vigo and this is the name of the statue in the photo below which was installed in Vigo in 1898.

The weather has improved significantly since we sailed across the Bay of Biscay and around the western-most coast of the Iberian peninsula, passing the Straits of Gibraltar around midnight last night. Today we have arrived in Malaga and the weather is gloriously sunny and very hot.

Malaga is one of Spain's oldest cities, having been inhabited since the time of the Phoenicians, who called it Malaka. It is a city of narrow streets, whitewashed houses, churches and sunny plazas.

It was the chief port of the Kingdom of Granada and the last stronghold of Moorish Spain. The city fell to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1487 and the re-conquest of Spain ended with the fall of Grenada five year's later (the same year as Columbus sailed across the Atlantic and discovered the New World).

We walked into the old centre from the cruise terminal, passing a nice, and not too crowded, beach along the way.

I would say that the two main attractions are the Alcazaba which is shown in the photo below and our main destination for the day, the Castillo de Gibralfaro .

The Alcazaba is a fortress palace that was built during the Muslim era and is located at the foot of Mount Gibralfaro (where the castle is). The two structures were connected by a corridor protected by walls called La Coracha (which literally means "the walled corridor"). The area of the Alcazaba is nowadays around 15,000 square meters which isn't even half the size it was in its heyday.

Our main destination, however, was the Castillo de Gibralfaro which stands at the summit of Mount Gibralfaro. We did the very steep, and consequently strenuous, walk to the top but took the bus to get back down to the main city centre.

The views from the castle were well worth the effort we had made.

The name Gibralfaro is supposedly formed from two words, one Arabic and the other Greek. The Arabic part is "Gibral" meaning "hill" and the Greek is "Faro" meaning "lighthouse". I can vouch that the hill is still there but the lighthouse on the summit is long gone!!

The castle was built in the 14th century to house the Moorish troops and to protect the Alcazaba. It was one of the most impregnable fortified buildings in Europe.

The Malagueta (bullring) at the Plaza de Toros is another "attraction" (although not for us!). It was opened in 1876.

We have continued our voyage eastwards along the southern Spanish coast and have arrived today in Barcelona, the capital and largest city in Catalonia.

It was a very hot day again today which made walking quite tiring. Nevertheless, starting from the Christopher Columbus monument, we walked along La Rambla to Placa de Catalunya and from there further north as far as La Pedrera - Casa Mila.

As we walked up La Rambla, we diverted off briefly to Placa Reial. In this square are some lamposts which are the first public works of the architect Antoni Gaudi.

We also spent a little time at the food market called Mercat de la Boqueria.

Here, among other things, there was octopus for sale.

As I write this update, Pisa is already a long way behind us. We've just got back from a trip to Rome. I've simply not had time to keep up with our travels. The weather has been really sweltering and my body has not taken kindly to it as I've had an allergic reaction and my arms and legs are covered with a breakout of hives.

Nevertheless we've had a great time over the last couple of days. We had planned to catch the train to Pisa but when we had walked to the station the next train was an hour off arriving so we decided to get a taxi. It cost us 30 Euros which wasn't bad considering that the standard price would have been 75 Euros. Pat said that she didn't think that we were in a licensed taxi, but we got to Pisa quickly and safely so I guess it didn't matter.

I've only got a couple of photos: after all, when you've seen one view of the Leaning Tower, you've seen them all!

Update on Rome to follow when I get chance (another busy day going from Naples to Pompeii tomorrow!)

As Rome is quite some distance away from our port of call (Civitavecchia), we decided to take one of the ship's excursions. This was meant to be via an Express Train. However, there was a train strike in operation on the day we went to Rome and therefore had to go by coach instead. This, of course, required that we negotiate the Roman traffic. On the way back this caused some problems and we only made it back to the ship with one minute to spare before the gangway was due to be taken up!

The coach dropped us off next to the Vatican. It just so happened that the German President was making a visit so we had to wait a few minutes for the associated cavalcade to drive past before the roads were re-opened and we could start our explorations fo the city.

The first building of significance that you arrive at after walking away from the Vatican is the Castel Sant'Angelo. It was originally built as a mausoleum for the Roman Emperor Hadrian and his family but was subsequently used by the Popes as a fortress and castle. At one time, it was the tallest building in Rome.

Immediately in front of, and leading to, the Castel Sant'Angelo is the Pons Aelius which is a bridge also built by Emperor Hadrian. The bridge is aligned on either side with statues of angels which were erected during the baroque period and each of which hold an instrument of the Passion of Christ.

Leaving the Vatican City, we walked south to the Colosseum. We had intended to go inside as we had done on our first trip to Rome in 2002. Today, however, the queues were enormous and, because we had seen it before, we decided not to do so.

I had taken a similar view of the Colosseum, though at night, on a previous visit to Rome in 2013:

Between the Colosseum and the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II are the remains of the Roman Forum. A Forum was a public square (similar to the modern day plaza) and, in the case of Rome, it is surrounded by the ruins of several important government buildings.

For many centuries the Forum was the focus of day-to-day life in Rome: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials and gladiatorial matches; and the nucleus of commercial and legal affairs.

On our way back to the coach, we stopped off at a terrasse cafe on the banks of the River Tiber. Whilst we were there, Pat spotted a Coypu swimming in the river and then coming ashore near to where we were sitting. We've never seen one of these before, so I quickly grabbed my camera to take a picture:

Our next port of call was Naples. Here our plan was to go to see the ancient city of Pompeii (which lies in the modern day municipality of Pompei - notice the change of spelling!)

I had bought some antihistimines whilst we were in Rome and I took a double dose of them the night before arriving in Naples. Fortunately this greatly helped the hives I had been suffering from and now it has gone from most of my arms and legs with just a few isolated areas left. I'm sure they will have gone by the time we reach Istanbul.

To get to Pompeii we walked to the main train station in Naples (took us about 35 minutes). It was well worth doing this as the train only cost us £11.53 return whereas the taxi drivers had been quoting us £130 and the ship excursions were even dearer than that.

The only complaint was that the train was extremely busy. There were no seats free for us and we were crammed in like sardines. It was very much like the pictures you see of trains in India or on the Japanese Underground. We were stood up for the entire 30 minute journey to Pompeii and it was so packed that people could just stand around us and not need to hold onto any bars as the train moved because we were so packed together.

Just as we arrived in Pompeii and had bought the entrance tickets the heavens opened and there was an almighty thunderstorm which lasted throughout our visit there. We were absolutely soaked by the time we got back to the ship (on the return train journey we managed to get on quickly and grab seats so it was much more comfortable for us).

We always love visiting Rome as well as Pompeii as we love seeing all the ancient roman ruins. However, we both think that neither of these beat Istanbul! It's a huge city and we have only seen a very small part of it in the four days we've spent here (two days on our present cruise and 2 days on a previous cruise).

Photos cannot really do justice to the place because they can never truly convey the immensity of the city itself nor of the enormity of the various bazaars that we've walked through (particularly the Grand Bazaar - as indeed its name would suggest). But more than that, photos are unable to capture the smells and sounds of the city (whether this comes from the aromatic fragrances of the spices, the shouts of vendors enticing every passing tourist to their stalls, or the announcement from the various mosques that punctuate the city's skyline).

God willing, we would both hope to return one day.

During the morning following our departing Istanbul, we sailed past the Gallipoli peninsula.

This area was, of course, the scene of the ill-fated landings during the First World War in 1915.

An amphibious landing on the penisula started in April 1915 and the campaign was abandoned 8 months later with casualties of around 250,000 men on both sides. Thus it was a costly campaign for the Entente powers and the Ottoman Empire as well as for the sponsors of the expedition, especially the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, who was blamed for the defeat by many MPs (and especially the Conservatives). It led to the formation of the coalition government that then ruled the country for the duration of the war. However, the condition of the Conservatives being part of the coalition was that Winston Churchill lose his position at the Admiralty.

The campaign, on the other hand was considered a great Ottoman victory. In Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the history of the state, a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire retreated.

The campaign became the basis for the Turkish War of Independence and the declaration of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who rose to prominence as a commander at Gallipoli, as founder and president.

The first photo below shows the Çanakkale Martyrs' Memorial commemorating the approximate 253,000 Turkish soldiers who fought in the campaign.

And this is the Helles Memorial which is a Commonwealth War Graves war memorial near Sedd el Bahr, in Turkey on the Gallipoli peninsula. This memorial is the main Commonwealth battle memorial for the whole Gallipoli campaign, and also commemorates the 20,956 Commonwealth servicemen with no known grave who died in the campaign in 1915-1916.

The United Kingdom and Indian forces named on the memorial died in operations throughout the peninsula, with main landings at Cape Helles and Suvla Bay, and the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps fought mainly at ANZAC Cove. There are also panels for those who died or were buried at sea in Gallipoli waters.

Today we have arrived in Mykonos, an island in the Greek Cyclades. We've been here before but on that occasion it was lovely and sunny. By contrast the weather at the moment is very wet. Not quite as bad as Pompeii when we encountered the thunderstorm, but certainly enough to get us thoroughly wet and glad to get back on ship to the comfort of the amenities on board.

To get to the town of Mykonos we caught a sea bus which only cost 5 Euros for the return trip. Although the queue was long, it didn't take much time as the "bus" held lots of passengers.

The main landmark of Mykonos are the windmills on the shore. The island itself is known as The Island of Winds because of the strong winds that often blow here. At least today it was quite tranquil.

The streets of Mykonos are very narrow, but picturesque with it.

This is the first time we've visited the Greek island of Rhodes. It is beautiful!! That impression was helped by the day being a brilliantly sunny one and the temperatures being once more in the high 70s Farenheit.

The island has a long history which includes being settled by Minoans and Mycenaeans before being colonized by Dorians, who established three cities that later formed the city of Rhodes. It was a powerful maritime centre known for the Colossus of Rhodes before coming under Roman, Byzantine, and then Ottoman rule. The Knights of St. John ruled from 1309 to 1522, leaving behind a well-preserved medieval city. After periods of Turkish and Italian rule, it became part of Greece in 1946.

The Order of the Knights of St John (or The Knights Hospitaller) were, like the Knights Templar, a christian military order founded in medieval times. They arose out of the Benedictine Monastic Order and founded a hospital in Jersualem but were also involved militarily in defending pilgrims and the Holy Land itself. They fought in the Crusades, but following the re-conquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces they moved to Rhodes before eventually moving to Malta.

The Order of St. John remains relevant even in modern times - it is the parent organisation of St. John's Ambulance.

Rhodes is known for being the site of one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World for it is here that the Colossus of Rhodes stood. It was a bronze statue that was about two thirds the height of the modern day Statue of Liberty in New York. It was a statue of the Greek sun god, Helios, and was erected in 280 BC to commerate the successful defence of the island from Demetrius I of Macedon.

It collapsed during an earthquake in 226 BC and then remained on the ground for nearly 800 years until the muslims invaded in 653 AD and took the bronze away as scrap metal.

The exact location of the statue within Rhodes is unknown. Some say it stood with its feet on each side of the harbour wall and ships would pass underneath as they arrived in Rhodes. However, the skills to erect a statue capable of this did not exist at the time.Another theory is that it stood on one side of the harbour - but which side is not known. In support of perhaps both of these theories, two columns have been erected at each end of the harbour walls to supposedly show where the statutue stood. The tops of the column are adorned by a male deer on one side and a female deer on the other. You can see these in the next photo.

Scholars now think that it is possible that the building that became the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of St John was built on the site of the Colossus of Rhodes.

In the background is the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes. In the exact spot in which the palace exists today, were the foundations of the ancient temple of the sun god Helios. The palace was originally built in the late 7th century as a Byzantine citadel. After the Knights Hospitaller occupied Rhodes in 1309, they converted the fortress into their administrative centre and the palace of their Grand Master.

In 1856, a gunpowder magazine under the nearby Church of Saint John was struck by lightning, causing a massive explosion that killed many people, destroyed the church, and destroyed much of the Grand Master's Palace. Most of the upper floors collapsed, while the ground floor rooms survived.

After making our way from the ship into the old town of Rhodes, we had a look around the Palace. It is still very extensive inside so was well worth the visit.

We are in Chania today. It lies on the North-West coast of the island of Crete. It was the site of a Minoan settlement by the name of Cydonia and it is from this name that the English word "quince" is derived.

In the 13th Century the Venetians conquered the territory and their influence can still be seen in the remains of the shipyards and in the architecture of many of the buildings along the seafront area.

The city subsequently fell under Ottoman control until it became part of Greece in 1913. The muslim era is still evident from the mosques that remain in the city.

We caught a shuttlebus into Chania from where we docked (about a 20 minute journey).and then walked directly to the old Venetian port area as this is definitely the most scenic part of the city. We punctuated the walk back by stops at the ruins of Firka Fortress and some lunch at one of the hundreds of small cafes or tavernas that lined the narrow streets of the old city.

On the way to the Venetian port we passed by "The Cathedral of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary". Which you can see in the first photo. During the Ottoman period the church was used as a soap factory!

Part of the way along the harbour wall (which we walked along) is the structure in the next photo. It's actually the remains of a single-aisled church dedicated to St. Nicolas of Molos.

The Firkas Fortress is shown in the next photo. It was constructed on the north-west part of the port, opposite the lighthouse, to protect the entrance of the port. It maintains its Turkish name "Firka" which means "barracks". The fortress was the headquarters of the Army Commander of the city. In the interior, the spaces were organised into barracks and ammunition storage areas. It was also used as a prison.